While the puppet government in Nanjing was raising supplies and food for the Japanese troops' military operations, the North Jiangsu Corps in the Sulu Theater was also actively preparing for war.
Yang Ling publicly killed the traitor who came to persuade him to surrender, clearly demonstrating his tough attitude that he would never be a traitor.
Although Yang Ling showed a tough attitude, he also knew what would happen after he expressed his stance.
The first thing to do is to shoot the first bird. If you do this now, you are breaking up with the Nanjing puppet government and slapping the Nanjing puppet government in the face.
The puppet government in Nanjing was severely slapped right after it was established. It would be strange if it did not retaliate.
Yang Ling took advantage of the fact that the Nanjing puppet government was still reacting and took the initiative to expand the control area of his North Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps to prepare for the next bad situation.
With the establishment of the Nanjing puppet government, the frontal battlefield was a little better. Chongqing had assembled heavy military groups to resist the Japanese, and the Nanjing puppet government had little influence on them.
But for the enemy-occupied areas, the impact was huge. The regular troops and guerrilla troops behind enemy lines were already having a hard time fighting the enemy's successive attacks.
Now the puppet government in Nanjing has been established, and it has adopted the slogans of "China-Japan goodwill" and "saving the country through curves".
Yang Ling also had to admit that these slogans were still very misleading, and many officers and soldiers fighting behind enemy lines would be led astray by them if they were not careful.
Although Yang Ling is confident that he can control the Northern Jiangsu Corps from large-scale surrender to the enemy and treason, it does not mean that friendly troops will not.
It can be expected that in the next long period of time, a large number of troops, gentry and landlords will surrender to the Nanjing puppet government, and those troops who insist on not surrendering will have a very difficult life.
So now Yang Ling must strike first, work hard to expand his control area, and strengthen the strength of his troops, so that he can have the capital to continue the long-term resistance war behind enemy lines.
Now they are facing off against the Japs from Gaoyou on the Jieshou front line, and deputy captain Zhang Liechen is guarding Huaiyin, which can be regarded as a rear area for them.
However, there is still Baoying between Jieshou and Huaiyin. Baoying is now guarded by the Japanese and puppet troops. Although the territory controlled by the guerrillas has been compressed to the periphery of Baoying County by the guerrillas, it is still a threat to Yang Ling and the others.
So after publicly executing the traitor Liu An and others, Yang Ling held a military meeting to discuss the capture of Baoying.
Capturing Baoying will not only connect Jieshou and Huaiyin, connecting the two base areas, but it can also be regarded as a frontal counterattack against the Nanjing puppet government.
After this period of training, the officers and soldiers of the Northern Jiangsu Corps have not only improved their combat effectiveness, but also unified their thinking. This is when their fighting spirit is high.
When Yang Ling proposed to take Baoying for surgery, there was almost no hesitation. The senior officers of the Northern Jiangsu Corps all raised their hands in favor of this military operation.
"Baoying's garrison currently consists of a Japanese squadron and a small team, with a strength of about 300 people. Assisted by two battalions of puppet troops, there are about a thousand people, and they control 25 villages around Baoying."
The Japanese's current front is very long, and the main combat forces are fighting against the main Chinese forces in Hunan, Shanxi, Guangxi and other places.
However, these occupied areas were short of troops. The Japanese mainly implemented the policy of puppet troops to assist in defense in the occupied areas, and recruited a large number of puppet troops to assist in defense.
Most local garrisons have a small number of Japanese soldiers cooperating with a large number of puppet troops. The situation in Baoying is similar, with a large number of puppet troops and a small number of Japanese soldiers.
During this period of time, the intelligence network in charge of Liu Sheng, the intelligence staff officer of the Northern Jiangsu Corps, was also actively spying on Baoying, and basically found out all about Baoying's enemy situation.
"Since the north, east, and south of Baoying County are controlled and surrounded by our army, Baoying's current supply of materials and ammunition is mainly transported from Anhui. As long as we cut off the material transportation channel to the west of Baoying, Baoying will be a
Lonely city."
Since the Subei Corps occupied Jieshou, Baoying has been semi-surrounded between Huaiyin and Jieshou, and the Japanese are unwilling to give up Baoying just like that.
Therefore, the Japanese opened a transportation channel connecting Hongze Lake and Gaoyou Lake to Baoying, and stationed a puppet army camp to build strongholds and gun towers along the way to guard it.
"So as long as we cut off the road west of Baoying, the Japanese supplies and reinforcements will not be able to pass through, and then Baoying will be in our pocket."
"So whether we can capture Baoying this time, not only the siege troops must be resourceful and fast, but also the reinforcement troops from the west must withstand the reinforcements coming from Anhui." Yang Ling quickly introduced the general situation.
The officers of the Jiangsu Northern Corps had all come through blood and fire, and they were full of confidence in fighting Baoying. After listening to Yang Ling's introduction, instead of being afraid, they were eager to try it.
"Sir, there are heavy Japanese troops stationed in Gaoyou now. If we send troops north to attack Baoying, what will happen if the Japanese soldiers from Gaoyou attack?"
Everyone turned their attention to Baoying, looking at Baoying like a piece of fat meat, but the blacksmith, the commander of the first battalion, looked worried and turned his attention to the south.
Yang Ling was also very pleased to see that the blacksmith, commander of the first battalion, could have an overview of the overall situation, considering the enemies in the south. With a little training, the blacksmith could be on his own.
Now after several major battles in the Northern Jiangsu Corps, a group of cutting-edge young officers with strong commanding styles have emerged.
However, although these cutting-edge young officers fought well on local battlefields, their overall view was not as good as that of their experienced older brothers.
Yang Ling nodded and said: "That's very good. Baoying is a nail that the Japanese have embedded in our control area. If we want to remove him, the Japanese in Gaoyou will definitely not stand idly by, so we need to leave a force to confuse people on the southern front."
Japs, launch a feint attack in the direction of Gaoyou."
"Which of you is willing to stay on the southern front and pretend to attack Gaoyou to cover my main force to attack Baoying?" After Yang Ling finished speaking, he looked at the room full of officers and asked.
Facing Yang Ling's gaze, the officers all lowered their heads and did not dare to look at him. At this juncture, they all wanted to take advantage of Yang Ling's gaze, but no one was willing to feint.
Moreover, this feint attack is not that easy to fight. Gaoyou is home to heavy Japanese troops. If you don't grasp the scale well, you will get yourself involved. It can be said that the feint attack on the southern front is a thankless task.
"Why, are you all a coward?"
Seeing that none of the brothers spoke, Yang Ling knocked on the table and said sarcastically.
"Sir, let's go with the battalion, but I also have a condition. I wonder if it's okay?" Shen Biao, the commander of the third battalion, saw that no one spoke, thought for a while and stood up.
Seeing someone finally standing up, Yang Ling's expression softened a lot. He looked at the third battalion commander Shen Biao and said, "Tell me what the conditions are."
Shen Biao chuckled and said: "Sir, it's okay. Our battalion is just covering this time, but next time we have to be the main attacker. Otherwise, if I am willing, it will be hard for me to explain to the brothers below."
The reason why Shen Biao stepped forward to take over the feint attack job on the southern front was also based on the specific situation of the army.
In the battle at Jieshou, almost half of their three battalions were killed. Although a group of new soldiers have been added, their combat effectiveness is much worse than that of the other battalions.
If you squeeze into Baoying, you will definitely not be able to grab much meat to eat. Instead of doing this, it is better to be a good person and book a banquet for the next time.
"You kid is really good at calculating." Looking at the conditions proposed by Shen Biao, Yang Ling smiled and scolded: "Okay, I promise you."
"Thank you sir!"
When Shen Biao saw Yang Ling agreeing, he sat down with satisfaction.